Consciousness and Revolution in Soviet Philosophy: From the Bolsheviks to Evald Ilyenkov (Modern European Philosophy)

This is the first critical history of the philosophical culture of the USSR, and the first substantial treatment of a modern Soviet philosopher's work by a Western author. The book identifies a significant tradition within Soviet Marxism that has produced powerful theories exploring the origins of meaning and value, the relation of thought and language, and the nature of the self. The tradition is presented through the work of Evald Ilyenkov (1924-79), the thinker who did the most to rejuvenate Soviet philosophy after its suppression under Stalin. Professor Bakhurst sets Ilyenkov's contribution against the background of the bitter debates that divided Soviet philosophers in the 1920s, the "sociohistorical psychology" of Vygotsky, the controversies over Lenin's legacy, and the philosophy of Stalinism. He traces Ilyenkov's tense relationship with the Soviet philosophical establishment and his passionate polemics with Soviet opponents. This book offers a unique insight into the world of Soviet philosophy, the place of politics within it, and its prospects in the age of glasnost and perestroika. Contents ......Page 6 Acknowledgments ......Page 8 A note on translation, transliteration, and references ......Page 10 1. Introduction ......Page 11 Introducing Ilyenkov ......Page 15 Orthodoxy and history ......Page 21 Ilyenkov and the Anglo-American tradition ......Page 27 Ilyenkov's legacy in the age of glasnost'and perestroika ......Page 31 2. Deborinites, Mechanists, and Bolshevizers ......Page 34 The beginnings of Soviet philosophy ......Page 36 The composition of the two camps ......Page 40 The substance of the debate ......Page 42 The defeat of the Mechanists ......Page 54 The aftermath of the debate: The defeat of the Deborinites ......Page 56 How were the Bolshevizers possible ......Page 59 The philosophical significance of the controversy ......Page 61 Conclusion ......Page 65 3. Vygotsky ......Page 67 The critique of the prevailing climate ......Page 69 Vygotsky's functionalism ......Page 74 Thought, speech, and "unit analysis ......Page 76 The independence thesis ......Page 80 Internalization and the convergence of thought and speech ......Page 84 Internalization and the critique of Piaget ......Page 89 Inner speech and thought ......Page 92 Conclusion ......Page 94 4. Lenin and the Leninist stage in Soviet philosophy ......Page 99 The Leninist stage in Soviet philosophy ......Page 100 Lenin's critique of Empiriocriticism ......Page 107 Lenin's materialism ......Page 116 Ambiguity in Lenin's materialism ......Page 119 Lenin's philosophy as politics ......Page 131 Conclusion ......Page 142 5. Ilyenkov and dialectical method ......Page 143 A synopsis ......Page 146 Ilyenkov versus the empiricist ......Page 152 Concrete totality and materialism ......Page 162 Concrete universals, historicism, and particularism ......Page 165 Ilyenkov on contradiction ......Page 175 Conclusion ......Page 180 6. The problem of the ideal ......Page 183 Ideality, moral properties, and the "ban on anthropocentricity ......Page 184 The insight about artifacts ......Page 189 Agency and the humanization of nature ......Page 194 Alienation and objectification ......Page 197 Ideality and the possibility of thought and experience ......Page 203 Ilyenkov, radical realism, and the critique of "two-worlds epistemology ......Page 208 Materialism and the final refutation of idealism ......Page 220 Conclusion ......Page 223 7. The socially constituted individual: Rethinking thought ......Page 224 Meshcheryakov and the blind-deaf ......Page 228 "Brain and Mind": Dubrovsky versus Ilyenkov ......Page 234 "Mind and Brain": Ilyenkov's reply to Dubrovsky ......Page 238 Ilyenkov on the ideal: The dismissal of Dubrovsky ......Page 243 The defence of the antireductionism and antiinnatism theses ......Page 251 Conclusion: The polemical and the political ......Page 260 8. In conclusion ......Page 266 References ......Page 273 Index ......Page 290 This 1991 book is a critical study of the philosophical culture of the USSR, and the first substantial treatment of a Soviet philosopher's work by a Western author. The book identifies a tradition within Soviet Marxism that has produced significant theories of the nature of the self and human activity, of the origins of value and meaning, and of the relation of thought and language. The tradition is presented through the work of Evald Ilyenkov (1924-1979), the man who did most to rejuvenate Soviet philosophy after its suppression under Stalin. Professor Bakhurst sets Ilyenkov's contribution against the background of the bitter debates that divided Soviet philosophers in the 1920s, of Vygotsky's 'socio-historical psychology', of the controversies over Lenin's legacy, and of the philosophy of Stalinism. He traces Ilyenkov's tense relationship with the Soviet philosophical establishment and his passionate polemics with Soviet opponents. This book offers a unique insight into the world of Soviet philosophy, the place of politics within it, and its prospects in the age of glasnost and perestroika The first critical history of the philosophical culture of the USSR is presented through this original study of the work of Evald Ilyenkov (1924-79), the thinker who did the most to rejuvenate Soviet philosophy after its suppression under Stalin. David Bakhurst. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 267-283) And Index.